BY U BOY

My oil press gauge is eratic,start the boatt and its pegged at zero. I pull the breathers to varify oil is pumping,all is good. Then the gauge goes to 40lbs then starts bouncing between 0 and 80psi then back to 40psi. I pulled the sender and swaped it with an extra one i have. Same problem
verified oil press with mech. gauge.

Checked all my grounds and everything is clean and tight.
pulled the dash and found a loose wire on the gauge so i changed the ring terminal and tightened it up. Start boat and everything seems fine again for about 2 mins then it starts all over again.

I don't know what else to check other than replacing the gauge itself.
What do i need to look for? the shootout is in 6 days.

Thanks

phragle

iTrader: (3)

dont they work by measuring resistance or something like that?? Im thinking you might be able to put an ohm meter on the sender and see if you get wild fluctuations....

monstaaa

check engine harness. seperate clean with electrical cleaner and use dielectric greese before you reinstall.
if you have an old rheastat like a dimable light switch, hook it up between ground and the wire end at the sending unit. then twist and watch the guage. you can also hook up a d.v.o.m to the guage to measure any inconsistant resistance outside the impendance range of the guage.

or smash the guage with a hammer so you have to put a new one in and buy a new sender while your at it.

obnoxus

Put a meter in place of the guage,,, or better yet on the guage,,, if the voltage stays constant while the neddle bounces,,,, you just verified the guage is bad,,,,, if voltage jumps on the guage,,, start working backwards.

Griff

Probably a bad guage. My Gaffrig/Livorsi was acting goofy last year and I replaced it. All was good after that.

sunchaser796

Try Checking The Oil Sender !!

BY U BOY

Is it possible to use a mechanical gauge with a stainless braided line all the way to the dash of the boat (about 16') or would i not get a good reading? I would like to keep the dash stock but need something reliable until i find the right gauge.

jayhawk261

If I were going to use a mechanical gauge, I would use an isolator. If you run an oil line up underneath the dash and it breaks/comes loose, you'll have a major mess and potential fire hazard to deal with. The isolator will mount back at the engine and have the oil pressure feed into the back of it. It has a gas filled tube that runs up to the gauge. The pressure is transferred from the oil to the gas through the isolator.

Kims

OR, you could keep it simple and get a oil pressure gauge from your local autoshop and see if that works. If it does work you know that you need a new gauge.

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) is vey efficient with those problems...

monstaaa

yes.

almost every race boat uses mechanical guages. including the capsule boats.
some have switched to smart craft.
the isolator is a good idea, cept the failure of the s.s braided or say a pusk loc by parker will more than likely never rupture.
i have run and installed thousands of fett of parker and s.s braided for just such an application and never have i experienced a failure.
doesnt mean it wont happen, but mechanical is most acurrate.